Hey guys! I'm back and better than ever! College is out for now, and now I have time to work on stories. Splatoon came out, and it's pretty amazing. So amazing in fact that my Facebook page wanted me to write a story about it. So here it is, I hope you enjoy it! Stay Fresh~

I took a second to step back and look around at my work. I brought my arm to my forehead, wiping off some sweat. "Awesome, the zone is finally covered and ours." I quickly looked around. "And not an Inkling is sight! I swear, if we, or rather I, don't win this match, I'm gonna get back down to a stupid C+ rank and I'm gonna be so pissed."

"Michelle!"

I sighed. "What is it Tomas?"

"I just spotted an Inkling super jump near our base! That means we've got at least two of them trying to flank us!"

"Can't you see I'm busy?!" I called to him. "Why don't you do it?"

"I'm taking care of their base, spreading ink to buy us a few seconds." He said, his tongue sticking out.

"Ugh, fine! I'll take care of it. Tell the others to take care of the zone." I told him.

"Yeah, I got you."

I reluctantly went back to our home base. Normally, I wouldn't be too hesitant to eliminate a couple guys or gals to prevent them from capturing the zone, but this was Urchin Underpass. Not one of my favorites, and the guys that know how to utilize this map to their advantage can be a handful. Plus I, for some reason, decided to use a charger, so that doesn't help my situation, more or less.

As I walked away from the central area and to my base, I saw some movement to my left near the gated area. I pretend not to notice and started to charge my Splatterscope. Using my peripheral vision, I noticed when he became a humanoid and quickly turned to him and directly shot him in the stomach. He exploded, leaving a big puddle of our teams color ink. I smiled. As much as I don't like the chargers, I have a pretty good aim, even without using the scope.

I heard a noise behind me. It sounded like chuckling. I began to charge my weapon again and I turned around to find another enemy on the higher level of the stage, but it quickly ran away.

"Oh no you don't!" I called out. I shot the area with my ink so I could follow him. Once I did so, I found him standing a few inches away from the ledge of the base, but it didn't seem like he was going to jump off. He turned and looked at me. 'Crap, he has a Blaster. There's no way I'm winning this fight with me staying here also.' I thought to myself. But I had no choice. I ran as fast as I could and readied an ink grenade. But as I neared him, he put up his hand and raised his pointer finger. I stopped for a second because I was really confused.

"What?" I asked confused. I still had my grenade ready.

He pointed at his watch and smiled.

"Huh?" I looked at my watch to see that their team had captured the zone and had five seconds left to win. "Aw dammit!" Before I knew it, the whistle rang and they had won. "Noo! I'm back down to C+. Great."

The inkling in front of me shrugged and held out his hand, clearly wanting a handshake.

I sighed and extended my arm out and shook his hand. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Good game I guess."

He smiled and gave a small laugh.

I took the time to get a quick look at him. Color didn't really matter because it changes every match, so I didn't really count his hair color, but it looked nice as a light green. He was wearing some Retro Specs, a pink skiing jacket, and some orange Hi-Horses. I'll admit, he pulls off this look very well. But his most unique feature was that he had the tentacle part of his hair in a ponytail instead of a bun like other guys have it. Besides one other guy I saw a while ago, he's the only one that has it like that.

I turned around and shrugged. "Oh well, I guess it's not so bad being on a four loss streak. Anyway, wanna head back? What's your nam-" When I turned back, he had already left. "Well then, I guess we'll never know haha."

I made my way over to Judd so I can get my results. It's always nice speaking to him. Even if he's a cat, he's pretty cool. He considers me a regular.

"Meow. (Ah, hey Michelle! It's always great to see you. Win or loss?)"

I sighed. "Hey Judd. It's a loss." I handed him my watch.

He took it with his pawn. "Mrow? (A loss huh? That's your fourth loss in a row.)" He explained. But it's not news to me. "Meow. (Let's see here... Wow, this is the third time you've been sent to C+. What's going on?)"

I put my arms up. "I guess I keep getting paired with people that don't take ranked battles seriously, aha!"

Judd smiled. "Mew. (Ha, maybe you're right. Here's your watch, it's been updated. You wanna get back in there?)" He asked me.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm good for now. Thanks for the offer though. I'll see you later Judd!" I said as I patted his head. "I might be back later."

He purred. "Meow. (Well, I hope to see you soon Michelle! Have a cat-tastic day!)"

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. Him and his puns. As I started to walk away, I remembered something. I quickly went back to Judd. "Hey Judd! I need your help."

He cocked his head to the side. "Meow? (What's up?)"

"I need a name." I told him. "He was on the opposite team that I just faced. Retro Specs, pink skiing jacket."

"Rowr. (Oh, him. Sorry Michelle, I don't exactly have a name. He never puts one down.)" He explained.

I nodded. "I see. Well, thanks anyway."

"Meow! (Hey! I never said I didn't have something! He calls himself LX.)"

"LX? That's pretty weird, but whatever. At least I have a name now." He gave me some kind of look. Him being a cat, I couldn't tell what he was trying to say. "What?"

"Mrow? (Why did you want to know his name? You trying get with him or something? Haha!)"

I shook my head. "Very funny. I tried asking him earlier, but he ran off before he could answer, or hear the question for that matter." I explained. "Nothing more, so get that thought out of your head. I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

Judd nodded. "Meow. (Whatever you say Michelle. And I'm not surprised that he left fast. He's always the first one here to update his results. Now I've got another match to oversee. I've got to get a hand around here sometime!)"

"I'm sure you'll find another cat that's as good as you to judge." I told him. "I'll see you later Judd."

I checked my watch. 3:25. It's not even that late. I figured that I might as well head to the drink shop for a while to relax and head home afterwards. Today was exhausting. Not only have I already battled about eight times today, but I also had to deal with Spyke and his ridiculous prices. I ordered a three-star item, but he didn't tell me that there were two stats already on it. I managed to get the price down about 10,000 coins, but I still ended up paying 40,000 for pilot goggles. I'm just glad that pilot goggles look cool, and the two stats it had were defense ups.

Oh, I completely forgot to tell you about myself. My name is Michelle, as you can already see. Michelle Green. I'm 20 years old, and I've been battling since I was 14. That's also the age where I fully developed into a humanoid, so it made senses start battling as soon as I could. And yes, I'm a B- rank battler. Or, at least I was until I got knocked down a rank.

I only did Turf Wars until recently because I was always indecisive about starting Splat Zones. I felt that ranks really didn't matter. But about two weeks ago, I decided to give it a shot. Now I'm completely addicted to it. I still feel that rank doesn't matter, but the money is nice to get. It's so much more than Turf Wars will ever give me. And since I'm already level 20, money is the only thing that comes my way when I battle.

I went to my locker and took out my laptop bag and my regular clothes and went to the changing room. As much as I like my battle clothes, I don't like wearing it out in public. I mean, come on. I'd rather wear my black Arrow Bans than a bicycle helmet. But I took out the head-strap from the glasses because I thought it looked tacky. And the same thing goes with my work boots. My school shoes are just fine.

After I was finished, I put my battling clothes in the locker and made my way out of the tower. I didn't have to walk far, because the drink shop was directly to the left of the tower.

"Hey Michelle!" I heard from behind me.

I turned around to find Tomas behind me. "Oh, hey Tomas. What's up?"

"Ah, nothing much." He simply said. "That loss was rough huh?" I stared at him. "What? Look, I kept my ground and tried to keep the guys away from the zone, but this guy with a blaster took us all out and captured it. He was really fast and had a really good shot. If it wasn't for my stat that boosts movement speed, I would have gone down with my other teammates." He explained.

"Wait, did this guy have a pink skiing jacket?" I asked him

Tomas nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"I ran into him right before the battle ended." I answered. "Judd said he doesn't have a name, but he calls himself LX."

Tomas seemed taken aback. "LX? I heard that he's one of the fastest Inklings to reach A rank?"

"A!? What the hell was he doing in our battle then?!" I asked, very surprised.

"Rumor is that he is at B-." He told me.

I was genuinely surprised. No wonder why our team got wiped out. "Uh-huh. Anyway, wanna get some drinks with me?"

He smiled. "You know I am! Let's go."

"Haha, what do you mean let's go?" I asked jokingly. "We're practically already here."

"We're not inside, are we?"

"Oh, shut up."

Tomas laughed. "Ah, just as spunky as always. I'll get you a drink, my treat."

"Aw, thank you Tomas! You're so sweet." I admired. I leaned up to his ear. "I hope you can afford my thirst." I whispered.

"Psh, I'm pretty sure I can." All of a sudden, a musical tone was playing. "Ah, excuse me Michelle." He took out his phone and answered it. "Hello?...Yeah, what's up?...Uh-huh...Oh, I'll get going then. See you in a bit."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He sighed. "I have to get going. Parents are having trouble with something. Sorry that we couldn't hang out."

"No no, it's fine." I reassured. "If you're busy, I understand."

"Awesome. Here." He said as he took out ten gold coins from his pocket. "This is for you."

I stepped back in surprised. "T-That's 10,000 coins. I can't take all that. A drink only costs around 30."

"Don't worry about it, it's a gift." He said as he placed it in my hand.

I blushed a bit. "Well, thanks Tomas."

Tomas began to run when he saw the train at the station. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow Michelle!"

"Wait!" I called to him. "What's the gift for?!"

"Going down to B-!" He yelled back.

"Oh my god, you jerk!" I snapped. I heard him laughing in the distance. Tomas being Tomas, as usual.

I stepped inside the drink shop and went to the front counter. "One large root beer please."

"Coming right up." The Inkling said. "That will be 20 coins."

I took out two bronze coins from my bag. "Here you are." I said as I placed the coins on the counter.

She took them from the counter. "Thanks. Do you want your receipt?"

"No thanks."

"Very well. One second please." She said, smiling. She grabbed a cup from behind her and went over to the soda machine. She poured my root beer into the cup and handed it to me. "Here you are. Have a wonderful day."

"Thanks, you too!" I said happily.

I took my drink and looked for an empty table. Once I did, I sat down and took my laptop out of my bag. I took a sip of my drink. "Ahh, that hits the spot. Alright, time to play some games." I booted up my computer, but I was surprised to find that it was just locked. "Oh yeah, I left it on since last night. How much battery do I have?... 78, that's not that bad. Alright, let's have some fun!"

As I was about to run the game, something caught my eye. An Inkling in a black hoodie entered the drink shop and the girl behind the counter quickly made a drink for him. He took out some money and paid for his drink.

"Thanks man. Hope you have a great day! I'll see you next time." She told him.

He nodded and went to a table.

'That's pretty weird.' I thought to myself. 'He didn't even talk to her and she already knew what to give him. He must be a regular or something.' I let go of the thought and put on my designer headphones.

DING.

Sigh, now what? I checked the messages in my inbox. Hey. I looked at the name. LazyExample. Don't know you, don't care.

I decided that the games could wait, and I just opened up the music program. I took a sip of my root beer and played a Squid Sisters song. I bobbed my head back and forth, enjoying the smooth beats of their music.

I looked up and found that that Inkling was staring at me. I couldn't see his eyes cause he was wearing some tinted shades. When he noticed that I was looking back at him, he quickly turned away and looked at his laptop. Weirdo.

I was about to go back to what I was doing, but I wanted to see what this guy's deal was. He reached into his bag and brought out some gold studio headphones. Oh, I didn't know they made them in a gold fashion. He must have done it himself. He pulled his hood down and put them on.

As quickly as I could, I put my head down and hid my face behind my laptop. Green hair, tinted shades, that ponytail. It was LX! I should have known from him not talking when he bought his drink.

Wait. Why am I hiding? He's just a guy, and one I don't know at that. I picked my head up and resumed what I was doing.

DING.

I had a feeling I knew who it was. I checked the screen to find that I was right. Hey, thanks for answering.

I don't know who you are. Stop messaging me. I typed in. I took a gulp of my drink, expecting for the messages to stop.

Look up.

Look up? I did so without thinking and looked around. LX was slowly waving his hand with a small smile on his face. This is you?

Yeah, my name couldn't give it away?

I stared at his screen name. LazyExample. LX. Oh my god! I'm an idiot. Well, I guess I know now.

Yep. Your name is Michelle right?

Yeah, why?

I just wanted to say that you did good out there.

I chuckled. Well, our team still lost.

But still, I could see that you really take these ranked battles seriously. And your work with a charger is impeccable.

Thanks. I typed it in. Hey, can I ask you something?

Sure, anything.

I paused. I was going to ask why he started talking to me, but that seemed a little rude. Why don't you talk? That seems like a normal question.

I talk. Just not as much as people want me to. If you want, I can go over there with you, and we could talk. I don't mind.

Huh. I suppose I don't mind talking with him. Yeah, sure. But you really didn't answer my question.

Oh yeah, haha. Well, it's for personal reasons.

Mind telling me?

I'll think about it. If we become friends or something, I guess I wouldn't mind too much. There was a long pause. But I'm not entirely sure if I wanna be friends.

What's this guy's deal? Why not?

There was another long pause. Let's just say that I think that you might be cute.

I didn't know how to take what he said. So am I cute, or not?

That's not the point I was trying to make!

Just get over here so we can talk. I typed.

Alright, one second. I looked over to see him packing his stuff into his bag. He stood up, and I could visibly see him sigh. Was he nervous or something? I'll find out soon enough. He slowly walked over to me and sat in the chair next to me. "Um…Hi."

Whoa. His voice was soft, and I mean really soft. He must be really nervous then. "Hey. What should I call you? LX seems kind of a handful to say. How about just L?"

He nodded. "That's fine." He looked around nervously. "Aha, sorry…I'm just a little nervous. I don't really speak. At all."

"It's okay." I told him. "We are just talking for the first time, so I don't blame you. So," I continued, "I hear that you used to be A rank?"

"Yeah, I used to be." He answered. "As you might have heard, I was one of the fastest to reach that rank. But I'm sure you know how ranked battles go."

I laughed. " Yeah, get paired with idiots and they take you down with them."

"Nicely put, haha!" He said laughing. His laugh was nice, not too loud, still soft, but genuine. I think I can become friends with him no problem.

Wait. "You said something about not wanting to be friends. Care to explain?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Oh, you picked up on that huh? I don't know, being honest."
"What do you mean?"

"Never mind that for now." He said, pretty bluntly at that. "How about a little wager?"

I stared at him. "What kind of wager?"

LX smiled. "Let's head to the battle dojo. We'll go a round. And let's make it interesting."

I nodded. "It sounds interesting already. How much money are you putting down?"

"It's not about money." He explained. "Whoever wins can decide what the other person will do. How does that sound?"

So that's what he meant by making it interesting. More practice for me. "Alright, deal." I told him, holding my hand out. He shook it. "Even though you used to be A rank, I've only ever lost twice in the battle dojo. I doubt I'll lose."

"I can't believe it!" I shouted in frustration. "I lost!"

LX nodded. "Yep, but it was really close. You only lost by one point!"

I scoffed at him. "It was your stupid mine! Mines are so cheap!"

"Aha, maybe they are," He said, holding back a laugh, "But I could tell that you were having some problems. Blackbelly isn't your favorite map is it?"

I shook my head in agreement. "Yeah…It's those ramps that always get to me. I'm just decent at the map."

"We could train some other time if you'd like. It would help if you knew some strategies for the maps." He offered.

"Yeah, sure." I answered. "I'll really appreciate it. By the way, what kind of stats are on your clothes?" I asked curiously. "No way a .52 shoots that long and recharges that fast!"

He smiled. "On my tinted shades, there are four defense-ups, my black hoodie has four ink savers, and my Hi-Horses have three ink refill speed-ups and one respawn time up."

I stared at him in shock. "No way you got those randomly!"

LX put his hands up. "You got me. I rerolled the stats on my shoes once. I was hoping for four of the refillers, but I like keeping one respawn, so I can get in the action a little faster."

"This is unbelievable! You must have super amazing luck if the only thing you rerolled was your shoes." I exclaimed.

"Yeah. So, onto more important matters." He said with a mischievous look on his face. "You lost."

I shrugged. "So?"

"I won the wager. Did you forget already?!"

"Aha, yeah, kind of." I said, chuckling nervously. "So…What do you want?"

He blushed. "Let's go out on a date."

"…What?"