Chapter Text
It started when Victor saw an Octoling on the street.
Their tentacles were long, worn up in a seaponytail - a practical tentastyle for anyone, really, but there was something different about them that made him curious.
The Octoling didn’t have the pointy ‘lashes’ that female Octolings did. And that made Victor wonder.
Made him wonder so much, in fact, that he asked his parents if he could grow out his own tentacles, usually worn in a short seaponytail that young Inklings like him often wore. Thankfully, he was able to pass it off as a passing fad, some trend that others his age often engaged in.
So, he let his tentacles grow; past his ears, past his chin, and eventually down to his shoulders. And he was happy, for a while. He hung out with his friends, went to school, and helped out at home.
(Despite the yelling, despite the harsh comments, despite the sharp movements that made him flinch. Despite all this, he helped his family. What else was he supposed to do?)
Then, one day during lunch break at school, someone in a class above him - a young lionfish, cocky and gutsy - pushed him aside in the lunch line.
“Oops,” said the lionfish. “Sorry, thought you were one of the lunch ladies, the way you’ve got your tentacles styled like that!” he mocked, his friends sniggering behind him. He shoved past Victor again, lunch tray in hand and lackeys close behind.
And so once again, Victor was left to wonder.
-
About three days later, after school - in one of the fields, plentiful in the countryside where his family lived - he sat with one of his friends, a sand-coloured seahorse he’d known since he was a little inkfish in his first year of school.
“I heard what that lionfish kid said to you the other day,” his seahorse friend said. “You okay? I know how your family can be, especially after the whole thing with your cousin a few years back.”
“...Yeah. I’m doing okay, I guess,” Victor mumbled. “It’s just… it made me think.”
“Uh oh. Sounds dangerous.” his friend joked, nudging him with a fin.
“Dude. c’mon, I’m serious.” he huffed. “I just… want to try something.”
“I’m not kissing you, if that’s it. I already got a girlfriend, man.”
“Look, if you’re not gonna take this shit seriously I’m just gonna go home, okay?”
“Wait wait wait, no,” the seahorse begged. “I’m totally serious about this, I promise.”
Victor looked at his friend, then sighed. “Fine.” he glanced away. “...Could you… I don’t fuckin’ know, call me a girl or something? I want to test something.”
His friend looked at him for a moment, silent. “Uh, okay,” he began awkwardly. “Hey girl, I like your braid, you do it yourself or something?”
It was a pretty stupid comment, sure, and kind of forced - but it still did the trick.
Victor felt a small, vague flicker of something . Something that his family would despise .
“Shit,” he said, holding his head in his hands. “ Shit . That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You okay?”
“No!” Victor said, voice strained. “Dude, I think I am a girl! If my family finds out, I’m fucked! ” He got up and started to pace. “If they find out, I’ll end up like Sango!”
His friend was quiet again for a moment. “... Your fam can’t know about this, V. Sango… don’t your family think he’s dead? I mean, he left for Inkopolis when you were, like, eight. You barely remember him, right?”
“Been six years since he left, and radio silence ever since,” Victor nodded. “And… yeah. They think he’s like, dead in an alleyway or some shit. Inkopolis isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, y’know?”
The seahorse looked at his watch. “It’s getting late - sun’s going down too.” He got up and briefly wrapped Victor in a hug. “Stay safe after dark, V.”
“... I’ll try. See you tomorrow, dude.”
And with that, they parted ways.
-
“You’re late home.”
Victor flinched at the harsh voice. “Sorry, mom.”
“It’s dark. You better have a damn good excuse.”
“I was studying with a friend after school. Lost track of time.”
His mother was silent for a moment. Victor looked at the floor.
“Hmph. Whatever,” she said. “You were supposed to do a run for us at six, remember? Your father had to go instead, since you were a no-show.”
Victor’s ears pinned back. “I’m sorry. I’ll do two next time, I promise.”
“You better. Your father’s going to be furious when he gets back.”
He nodded, and then went to leave, but was stopped by a rough grab on his arm.
“Not so fast. We need to talk.” His mother said, tone deadly serious. “Go up and change, and then back down here, and quickly .”
Fear lanced through Victor’s chest. He nodded, and then bolted up the stairs.
He changed into a pair of black shorts and an old shirt, switching out his school shoes for a pair of his favourite boots before going back downstairs.
His mother sat at the kitchen table, arms crossed and her phone laying on the wooden surface. She nodded her head at the seat opposite her.
“Sit.”
He sat.
“Victor,” She began, voice dangerously quiet. “I’m sure you’re aware of our family’s connections in this town, yes?”
Victor nodded.
“So you know that nothing gets by in this town without me and your father knowing about it, correct?”
He nodded again.
“Good.” Her eyes narrowed. “I heard that three days ago one of your classmates confronted you about something. Mind elaborating?”
Victor swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t act dumb, Victor. You’re a smart young man.” His mother picked up her phone, switching it on and swiping to a text message, and then showed it to him.
smth r/ vic @ school - sm1 said v = girl? Said the text, sent from an unknown number.
Shit.
“I won’t ask again, Victor.” she said, switching her phone off and setting back down on the table. “Would you mind elaborating?”
His mouth was dry. He swallowed again, taking a breath. “Some kid at school took the piss out of my tentastyle. I didn’t want to start a fight, so I just left it be.” Not technically a lie. Victor hoped she didn’t press further.
To his immense relief, she didn’t. She hummed, as if displeased, and then got up from her seat.
“Dinner is at eight,” his mother said. “Don’t piss your father off more than he already is when he gets back.”
Victor nodded. He scrambled up from his seat, and quickly went back upstairs to his room.
-
Dinner was tense, to say the very least.
Victor’s parents didn’t mention anything about the situation, and they all ate dinner in silence, broken only by the clinking of the cutlery on the dishware. He didn’t even pay attention to what he was eating - he just stared at the middle of the table and ate whatever his mother had put on his plate, trying not to rush so he could go back upstairs and into his room.
Once dinner was done, Victor all but bolted up the stairs.
Hours passed as he distracted himself - with his phone, with his laptop, with the ancient games console hooked up to his even more ancient TV. Soon enough, it was past midnight, and he decided to take a break if he wanted to be anywhere near functioning tomorrow at school. Quietly, he opened his bedroom door, trying not to make too much noise.
He got to the top of the stairs when he heard talking - his parents’ voices, barely audible over whatever late-night show the TV was playing.
“So, about Victor,” He heard his father say, a deep rumble. “I got that message from our connection at the school, too.”
His mother hummed. “Yes. We have to be careful and make sure he doesn’t end up like Sango .” The name was spat out, like a piece of spoiled food. “I’m glad he fucked off to Inkopolis and went silent. I hope we don’t get any news from him, if only so we can pretend he’s dead and out of our lives for good.”
“Mm. People like that aren’t quite the kind of people we want in our business,” His father grumbled. “None of that confused talk; made him look insane, when I heard it back then.”
A harsh, short laugh from his mother. “Imagine! There’s a very specific way us lot are made, and going against that just ain’t right.”
Silence, for a short while, and then his mother started talking again.
“You know, I got real suspicious when Victor asked if he could grow out his tentacles. He told us it was just a fad, but I ain’t seen any other boys his age wearing theirs like that, y’know?”
“Yes, yes, I thought so too.” Victor heard shifting, and his hearts began to pound - but it must’ve just been his father readjusting on the couch. “Need to check his room some time soon, just in case. You got a run booked for him?”
“Two of them. Said he’d make up for the one he missed in the afternoon.” His mother sneered. “Said he was studying with a friend after school.”
“Is that so,” Said his father. Victor could hear the cold steel in his voice. “Well. Sounds like I need to take that up with the school faculty, see if there’s any… bad influences .”
No no no no no no-
As quickly and as quietly as he could, Victor snuck back into his room, and started to pack his backpack with anything he could find; his phone, the charger, his wallet, a few sets of underwear, another set of shorts and a shirt were all shoved into his bag messily.
Once finished, he slung the bag over his shoulder, opened his bedroom door -
And came face-to-face with his father.
He had a thunderous look on his face, worthy of the Great Zapfish itself. Victor felt the ink drain from his face and run cold.
“You headed somewhere, boy?”
He heard his blood rushing in his ears, and his body moved on its own - he ducked past his father, who grabbed for him. There was the sound of tearing cloth - his shirt, he realised - and he was briefly yanked backwards from the force.
A rough hand grabbed one of his tentacles and pulled , and Victor cried out in pain. His father jerked him backwards, and a hand connected harshly with his mouth, splitting his lip open. The same hand grabbed his chin, pulling him towards his father.
“ You, ” He spat, unnervingly close to Victor’s face. “Aren’t going anywhere .”
Victor flailed, trying to get away. He managed to get a leg stable, and swung the other as hard as he could into his father’s groin.
The grip on his chin and tentacle disappeared as his father doubled over in pain with a groan, and Victor scrambled away. His legs were shaky with adrenaline, however, and he ended up stumbling down the stairs and falling into a dazed bundle at the bottom. He barely had time to react when he was suddenly dragged up by the collar of his shirt, and then pain exploded across the left side of his face as he was punched in the eye.
He blearily opened his eyes - it was his mother who had punched him. She’d been waiting at the bottom of the stairs, he realised. Of course she would be.
“You ungrateful, ” A second punch, directly on his nose - he felt warm wetness leak from his nostrils. “ Waste of fucking ink- ” She pulled her fist back for a third hit, but Victor managed to get his arms up in time to block the blow. Her fist glanced off the side of his arm, and he managed to grab one, pull it close to his mouth, and bit.
His mother cried out in pain, and he bit down harder, breaking the skin and tasting bitter ink-blood. He got his legs under her body, and pushed her backwards - she was sent tumbling against the wall, and Victor made a break for it.
He bolted towards the front door - always unlocked until his parents went upstairs to bed - and scrambled to open it.
He flung the door open so hard the handle smashed against the wall, and he started running.
“ Victor! ” His mother screeched behind him, as he ran into the darkness. “ Victor! ”
Victor kept running, until he could barely hear the last thing his mother screamed into the night.
“ If you come back here, you’re dead !”
-
Victor’s chest ached by the time he got to the nearest train station.
It was deathly quiet, being on the outskirts of town, and only a couple of the streetlights were lit, casting an orange-yellow shadow on the concrete and train tracks.
He looked around him, anxious, but he couldn’t hear anything - no car engines, no footsteps, no yelling.
Victor was safe - for now.
Heaving a sigh of relief, he shuffled his tired body over to a nearby bench. His legs burned with exertion, and his face ached horribly. He could feel his blood drying on his lips, and his nose still dripped freely, blue blood leaking onto the front of his shirt. He was pretty sure he’d have a nasty blue-eye soon, if he didn’t already.
“Um, excuse me?”
Victor flinched violently. He’d been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed someone coming up to him.
An Octoling with a button-up shirt and red headphones stood before him.
“I saw you running here,” he said. “Are you okay?” His blue-orange eyes were filled with concern.
“Uh.” Victor said, dumbstruck.
“Can I sit here?”
“...Sure?”
“Thanks,” said the Octoling. He had blue tentacles, styled in a masculine way, and they looked almost purple under the yellow streetlight. “Where are you headed?”
“Away from here.” Victor said, voice shaky. “I can’t stay here anymore.”
The Octoling nodded. He stuck his hand out. “My name is Hiro. You?”
“I… I don’t know. My name was Victor, but…”
“That’s okay.” Hiro wiped under his eyes, and…
Oh.
Hiro had pointed eyemasks.
“It’s okay if you don’t know who you are yet. Cool if I call you V for now?”
V nodded.
“Cool. Here, I have some tissues for your nose.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a battered but unopened pack of tissues and handed them over. V opened them, pulling one out and wiping gingerly under his nose. He didn’t think the cartilage was broken, but he didn’t want to risk it. “Can’t go on a train looking like you just lost a fight with a Cohock, eh?”
“I wish I did fight a Cohock, if I’m being honest.” V said, voice nasally from the clotting blood blocking it. “Would’ve been gentler than my fuckin’ parents, at least.”
“Ah.” Hiro said, going quiet. He glanced down the train tracks both ways.
Silence filled the air as V wiped away the blood and tried to make himself look presentable.
“Hey,” Hiro began, turning back to V. “I’m headed over to Splatsville - my parents let me move out if I wanted, and I did, so I packed up and came here. Train’s too busy in the daytime.” He chuckled a little. “And since you can’t stay here anymore… wanna come with? We can split rent if we get an apartment.”
V took in a deep breath through his mouth. “You sure? You don’t even know me.”
“I know,” Hiro said simply, smiling. “But I’d really like to, if you’d let me.”
Hiro held out his hand again, gently extending the offer.
V stared at his hand, looked back towards the town, and then down the train tracks behind Hiro.
Fuck it.
V took Hiro’s hand, shaking it. His palm was warm, and slightly calloused, and he had a firm grip.
“Deal.” V said, with a sharp nod.
Hiro grinned. “In that case,” He stood up, dusting off his shorts. “My name is Hiro Otto-Kian, a humble Turf-War wannabe hoping to make it big in the Splatlands. May I know your name, dear friend?”
V smiled, letting out a soft breath.
“Veronika,” she said, her chest feeling lighter than it had in years . “My name is Veronika.”
Hiro gave her a gentle smile. “Nice to meet you, Veronika.” He gestured to her tentacles. “I like your braid. You do it yourself?”