black & blue [splatoon manga]

Today Feels Different

Mask sat on his bed, legs dangling off the side. His cyan earbuds were in (a present from Designer Headphones) but nothing was playing. The gas mask was on for no reason other than the familiarity of it. He cued up Now or Never!, but before pressing play, he gazed around the room. It was the same as ever. Same band posters on the wall, spare canisters on the floor, drawer full of writing he'd rather not think about... but this day felt different somehow.

Was it that he was completely free? Mask's schedule was usually brimming, full of turf wars, ranked battles, Salmon Run shifts, and the occasional trip to Octo Canyon, not to mention private battles, parties, and training. He had to plan his down time as it was. No, that wasn't it, because this was the Cyan team's day off. They hadn't even scheduled a get-together to read comics or play games. He had no commitments today, nowhere he had to be, no one he had to meet. He could do whatever he wanted. The team had agreed to this bimonthly, so it was routine. Why didn't it feel like that?

Perhaps he should go to Deca Tower, spectate some battles. He'd heard that Rider had challenged Emperor to a rematch. Brave or foolish, he couldn't decide, but the spectator slots would fill up quickly. The match was in about an hour and a half, so he had time to kill. He could find somebody to play league with, or just play ranked with randoms. Salmon Run was closed, so that was out of the question. He didn't want to have to spend another shift with first-timers anyway.

His squidphone dinged, and he pulled it out. It was a text from his team's group chat.

ówò: ik that todays our day off but anyone wanna play league? it's tc

A rapid succession of notifications followed as the others responded.

jersey89: hECK YEA

waxing-gibbous: sounds fun!

ówò: cool im lonely as hell

jersey89: then ur not rlly lonely are ya

waxing-gibbous: heh.

jersey89: get rOaStEd OWO BOY

ówò: y'all are mean, im just not used to this yet

waxing-gibbous: true, it has only been a couple of times.

jersey89: yeah and we do get together all the time

ówò: oof

waxing-gibbous: but guys, we can't play as a team of three.

jersey89: mask? u in?

ówò: masky?

He decided to ignore those. Another message came in, this time from Bobble Hat.

blue_puffball: anybody wanna play turf with us? goggles got his foot stuck in cement

Mask chuckled. That idiot Goggles.

He hoped that Bobble Hat was doing well. Last he'd seen, she'd challenged Designer to a bunch of 1v1s. Slosher on slosher, that's what she wanted. That crazy squid. She was always smiling. As for those private battles... it was strange, but he was kind of rooting for her. She was so enthusiastic, even though she was stuck in C and lost many times. She deserved a win.

Wait, what was he thinking? He had to stay loyal to his team! If Designer beat Bobble, then he was better. It was fair. Of course he didn't want Bobble to win. She was just another obnoxiously happy, low-ranked newbie. Right?

Right?

[A/N: Match the username to the Team Cyan member! I love making those up.]