The train ride to Calamari County certainly would not, and would never be, the highlight of any trip to her parents home. No matter the weather or time of day, there was this one fish that would stink out the whole bus with his fish-sweat and the jellyfish that took the afternoon train obviously had never heard of 'personal space'. (Y/N) would often find herself sitting, squished in the corner against an obnoxious squid or standing for the whole ride as jellyfish had spread themselves over the seats.

Her suitcase sat on her lap, jumping whenever the train would jolt, she stared out of the window into darkness. She had left her apartment to board the train at a pleasant 4am in the morning and was struggling to keep her eyes open, despite the aid of a double-shot espresso.

Once she had (thankfully) left the train and walked to her childhood home, (Y/N) let out a sigh of relief. She never was one for too much travel- it probably came from the fact that she had only lived on one home throughout her entire childhood. Her parents welcomed their weary traveller of a daughter with open arms, and guess what the first family meal was? Tea. This time, with an extra spoonful of sugar.

By the time the third week's end was dawning on the family, (Y/N) had relived almost every part of her childhood town. From the old arcade where she played the first-ever versions of squidjump, to the wretched coffee table that she managed to stub her toe on. Every. Time. It was a wonder her parents had kept the item, but she guessed that they didn't have the heart to throw it out. The bikini Aloha and Bamboo had helped her choose was put into good use, as she went to the shore almost every day she spent there. As a young squiddo, her favourite place was on the pier: where the wind would ruffle her tentacles and the salty air would spray across the deck. Her dad used to take her fishing here, but the only thing she ever caught was the seaweed that floated just beneath the surface.

It was a great escape for (Y/N), but she was well spent by the time she had to board the train, again.

*BANG BANG BANG*

"WAKEY WAKEY!" (Y/N) groggily opened her eyes to see Bobble-Hat beating a wooden spoon against a pan. There wasn't a single reason that (Y/N) could recall to justify the rather rude awakening.

"Please stopppp," She groaned, pulling her duvet over her head. "You don't want grumpy (Y/N), do you? Not on my first day back? Just let me sleep..."

"NO CAN DO PAL! WE HAVE A LUNCH DATE WITH MY TEAM!" Bobble screeched, dropping the kitchen utensils to the carpet.

"..." (Y/N) sat up and rubbed her eyes, "If I get up, will you stop screaming?" Bobble nodded her head excitedly. She was looking forward to the banter between Goggles and (Y/N); it was always entertaining.

Quickly brushing her fangs under the watchful Bobble, (Y/N) got ready for the day, or potential nightmare if Goggles was involved.

"Iy hrope yrour nrot ghoing toh starht sromethin' like lrast trime," (Y/N) spat out the toothpaste into the sink, "Poor Goggles couldn't keep up with the pun meister."

Bobble only threw back her head and laughed in response. She'd probably start the pun war again.

The pair walked to the square and met with team Blue at 10am (Actually 10.14, (Y/N) had left something back at her apartment but only realised once they were halfway to the square) and sat down at a table, basking in the sun. There wasn't a cloud to shroud the sun, so it was blazing almost as hot as the oil Crusty Sean deep-fries everything in.

"Heya Bobble and (Y/N)! Ready for a pun-rematch?!" Goggles practically yelled whilst leaning over, bursting (Y/N)'s personal bubble by miles.

"Only if you're ready to lose, pun(n)y mortal!" (Y/N) put her index finger to his forehead and pushed him from of her already burst bubble, chuckling at his eagerness. They all traded in a handful of tickets for some food from Crusty Seans', and began to help themselves as Goggles and (Y/N) faced off in a 1v1 pun war.

"You're lucky I've had my morning dose of cafin, or you'd reely not have any fin with this," (Y/N) started off strong, setting the theme: fish.

"In this entire tunaverse, I'm glad I'm herring your puns," Goggles took a bite from his deep fried shwaffle.

"I feel like I'm a reel pacifisht in this war."

"That pun's got me reeling, but I'm the one tipping the scales,"

"No way bro, you should go to pun acodamy. Your puns STINK!" She held her nose for effect.

Goggles stumbled, before spitting out a quick: "Just because you're a jelly-fish!"

Everyone at the table stopped chewing and looked at Goggles, who gripped onto his jar or pickled plums. "That made more sense in my head."

They all burst out laughing, and (Y/N) was gasping for air since she was laughing so much.

An inkling sitting not too far from the noisy group heard the melody of (Y/N)'s voice and sat upright in his chair, putting his inkphone down on the table. Turning around slowly, his fuschia orbs alighted on her figure. (I/C) tentacles glistening in the late morning sun and a broad smile gracing her face, he was enchanted.

Blue team could see as the inkling crept up behind (Y/N), holding a finger to his lips and pulling a devilfish smirk. Counting on his fingers from 3, Headphones sneakily videoed.

"BOO!" (Y/N) squealed in surprise as someone grabbed her shoulders, but she gasped when she recognised the voice.

"ALOHA!" She shot out of her chair and jumped into a warm hug. Aloha span her around as she giggled into the nape of his neck, squeezing her eyes shut and grinning as he planted a sweet kiss to the side of her neck.
"It's so good to see you!" (Y/N) breathed once he had put her down, still swaying slightly in his arms.

He was wearing the clothes he always wore; an aloha shirt, crazy arrows, his gold visor and his signature smile. In the light, his eyes were glistening with happiness and (Y/N) found it, frankly, irresistible.

"Heya, gorgeous~🎵" Aloha whispered as they released the hug. Team blue's jaws were on the ground. It almost looked to them as if Aloha and (Y/N) were dating, with how eagerly they embraced each other, and Headphones-chan stopped recording.
"I missed you so much~ Glad to have you back!🎵"

"I missed ya too, I guess," (Y/N) winked and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, much to team blue's amusement.

"Soo... Could you two wait for a bit longer? (Y/N) is ours for the next," Specs looked at his watch "seventeen minutes.".

"Sure! But I'll have to steal her away in sixteen minutes~" Aloha bounced away to his previous table where his inkphone lay next to his .52 Gal. Specs rolled his eyes and (Y/N) sat back into her chair, grinning to herself. A warm feeling had spread across her chest when he'd spun her around and kissed her neck, like butterflies flitting delicately through her stomach.

"So, you and Aloha, huh?" Headphones smirked as she caught (Y/N) twisting her body to look at him a few tables over.

"What?! Nah, we're just friends..." The (I/C) inkling snapped back into her seat and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I SHIP IT ANYWAY!!" Goggles screeched, before getting hit over the head by an embarrassed (Y/N). "I bet she likes him!"

"How about we continue whatever conversation we were having before Aloha attacked (Y/N)?" Specs saved (Y/N), earning a grateful smile from her.

The rest of the sixteen minutes that the group had was spent arguing about whether or not you could live off only eating pickled plums (4 against 1; doesn't take much to guess who was on which side) before team Blue stood up, and left to the lobby for their training session.

(Y/N) was scrolling through her Splatchat notifications, laughing at the occasional meme one of her friends sent her. She was taking a selfie for her splat-streaks when she felt someone wrap their arms around her shoulders, and saw Aloha behind her on her screen.

"I'm back~" (Y/N) took the photo and posted it to her story as Aloha peered over her shoulders to her inkphone. "Miss me?"

"Almost died of loneliness," Standing up, (Y/N) pocketed her inkphone as Aloha retracted his arms and stood next to her. The breeze that had wafted through the square had gone, and the sun was still glaring down at the Earth, fiery. The square was filled with Inklings and Octolings alike, and there was little to none places to stand (or sit, as the table that they had lunch at was already occupied again).

"Since it's so packed, d'ya wanna head down to the beach~🎵?" Aloha didn't wait for her response as he linked their arms and began to tug her in the direction of the beach. How could (Y/N) say no.