After returning Pumi led Numi to an old couch, which was under a tree near the entrance to the sewers. She told her to wait there and went over into the cabin, closing the door behind. While Numi was sitting on the couch and waiting, she noticed a small zapfish plushie peeking out from under a pillow, looking at her with its small, black, beady eyes. She gently took it from under the pillow and brought it closer to herself. The plushie was of a bright yellow colour, with a big, squishy body, small, soft fins and tail with black outlines, and a somewhat large head with a small, blue captain's hat on top. Its face was small, with small eyes like hot coals and a cheerful orange smile that made it look very friendly, which was reinforced by its fins being in a position ready for a hug. Numi stared at the plushie for a minute before finally embracing it with a big hug. The plushie let out a happy sounding squeak, bringing a small smile to Numi's face. After another minute Numi lied down on the couch and closed her eyes, still hugging the calming plushie, drifting off to sleep not long after.

About half an hour later Numi lazily opened her eyes, awoken by gentle tugging. "Hey, Numi." Pumi said softly. "We're going home." Numi sleepily blinked a few times, slowly sat up, rubbed her eyes and looked at her sister. Pumi's face and voice gave it away that she's been shouting for a while. "Go to the cabin and get changed."

"Okie." Numi said and slowly got up. As she headed for the cabin, she passed Cap'n Cuttlefish and noticed that he was sweating and nervously glancing at Pumi. Once Numi got changed, she walked out of the cabin and saw that Pumi was already waiting besides the door, leaning against the wall.

"Ready?" Pumi asked and Numi nodded. Pumi walked up to Numi and picked her up, giving her a piggyback ride.

"Pumi, I can walk!" Numi protested.

"Nah-ah, you're not walking that distance, especially with a concussion! Not on my watch." Pumi declared and began walking in the direction of the shortcut.

"Uh... that's not the way to the ladder..."

"We're not going through sewers." Pumi said, giving Cuttlefish a death glare as she passed him. After a few minutes of walking Pumi took a slight turn, heading towards a distant rock pillar. "If you want to, try sleeping. Despite this being a shortcut, it's still quite a walk."

"Is it faster than sewers?"

"Well, no. There are three ways, sewers being the fastest but least safe."

"How is it a shortcut then...?" Numi asked, tilting her head slightly.

"It's faster than the last way. I never went this way, but the directions and landmarks are very easy to navigate."

"Why not through sewers?"

"A reason that I won't tell you."

"Why?"

"Numi, stop asking so many questions and get some rest." Pumi said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Okie..." Numi said and tried her best to get into the most comfortable position she could, which took her a few long moments. However, she didn't fall asleep, instead watching the surroundings as they moved. She watched, watched and watched, bored out of her mind.

Because of the slow pace, it took a little over 10 minutes to reach the end of the shortcut, at the end of which stood a shack. Outside the shack stood two inklings, one of whom was standing by the doors. "Hi Pumi!" one of the inklings beamed as she turned around. It was Callie, and the inkling in the door was Marie.

"Heya." Pumi replied without even stopping, passing by the squid sisters.

"Oh, I didn't notice your sister." Callie said and asked Numi "How are you?" Numi didn't reply.

Pumi stopped. "She had a concussion and almost died. Does that answer your question?" she answered with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Whoa, what?! What happened?!" Callie exclaimed, a shocked expression on her face.

"Please don't shout..." Numi said rather quietly.

"Sorry! But what happened?"

"Basically, your genius gramps believed that Numi really is agent 7 and sent her on a mission. And there she got a concussion, got captured, traumatised and almost killed!" Pumi explained briefly, her tone filling with more and more anger with each word she uttered.

Both cousins were speechless upon hearing this. A long moment of silence was broken by Marie uttering a shocked "What?"

"You heard me." Pumi replied and started walking again.

"Where are you going?" Callie asked.

"Home. Don't expect me to do any agent work for at least a week, unless there's an emergency." Pumi replied without stopping.

Both squid sisters watched as Pumi walked away with Numi, who soon was out of sight. They looked at each other. "Should we... check on gramps?" Callie asked after a short while, getting a nod in response.

"Since you're here, I'll go check. You'll stay here with Licy." Marie said and before Callie could protest, she raised her hand and added "We both know that I'll handle that better. And besides, Licy is calmer when you're around. Maybe it has something to do with you being her favourite idol?"

"Fine..." Callie sighed.

---

After over an hour of walking, Pumi and Numi reached Inkopolis. Numi insisted that she can walk by herself for a third of the way through Inkopolis until Pumi finally allowed her, on condition that Numi would be holding her older sister's hand. Numi naturally agreed. She always liked holding hands.

As they passed various streets, Numi noticed posters advertising "More New Civilisation X Exhibits And Theories." in Shellendorf Institute. After a while she finally asked "Pumi, could I go to Shellendorf?"

Pumi looked at her sister with a puzzled expression on her face. "Why?"

"I want to see new fossils." Numi replied, looking at another poster that they were passing. "I liked the ones I saw on the trip. They were cool!"

"You'll have to ask Kumi." Pumi shrugged after a moment. "I think she's going to be back early today."

"Okie." Numi beamed. They continued walking, getting closer and closer home. Unknown to them, they were being followed by three urchins.

"Are you sure that's the right one?" one of the urchins asked.

"More than sure."

"That's what you said last time we had a job like this. And it turned out you picked the wrong target!"

"Hey, coats are very popular! We got the right coat either way. Besides, that inkling there is literally the only one with a scarf that I've seen today."

"Yeah, boss is right. And the inkling is wearing the same clothes as M said." third urchin added in a tone that suggested boredom.

"What about that other inkling?" first urchin asked.

"The usual: knockout." third urchin replied as he grabbed a bat that was slung over his shoulder. "Let's get over this, I've got better things to do." he said as he started running towards the pair of inklings, preparing to swing his bat at the same time. Pumi heard rapidly approaching footsteps, but before she could turn back she was hit in the back of her head. She stumbled forward, her legs shaking like jelly, but she managed to not fall over.

"Alright. This better have been just a bicycle." Pumi muttered angrily as she turned around. She saw Numi, who was visibly worried, and a male urchin with an expression that couldn't be more confused. "Oh? Another challenger?" Pumi grinned, glaring at the urchin. She clenched her fists and took a defensive stance. Although she was wobbling from the hit, she was confident that she could take the urchin on. "I knocked out sharks before, an urchin isn't a problem."

The urchin blinked as he processed the moment. "How the fuck are you still standing...? Scratch that, how the actual fuck are you not unconscious after that?!" the urchin exclaimed, taking a step back. He readied his bat for a second swing, but hesitated.

"I'm made for fights." Pumi replied and faked a leap forward, making the urchin take another step back. She faked another leap forward and an attack, then again, before jumping right up to the urchin and kicking him in the guts. Caught off guard, the urchin wheezed as air forcibly escaped him, dropping his bat. "Really?" Pumi said in a mocking manner, "Is that really all you can do? I'm struggling to stay upright and still manage to disarm you. Just how bad are you?"

"Uh, Pumi? Do you need to be mean to him?" Numi asked from the side, fiddling with both end of her scarf to try distracting herself from how uncomfortable she felt while watching the brief fight. Before Pumi could answer her sister, she got headbutted by another urchin, getting knocked down to the ground. Although she didn't feel pain, she knew this was bad, and her blood on the tips of the urchin's spikes were a proof of that. Numi covered her eyes, too scared to watch any more.

"Pheh. That was cheap. What are you, a salmon?" Pumi uttered, still in a mocking manner.

"Want a repeat? Can't guarantee that you'd survive." the urchin hissed. Pumi rolled her eyes, but bit her tongue. The urchin turned to Numi and barked "You! Pink! Give us that scarf and we'll let you go unscathed!"

Numi partially uncovered her eyes and looked at the urchin. "W-what?" she asked weakly, a mix of fear and confusion in her voice. The urchin let out an angry groan, grabbing one of the spikes on his head, breaking it off and holding it like a knife. Urchins could regrow spikes in days and didn't feel any pain if they broke or snapped them.

"Are all inklings this stubborn..." he muttered angrily and moved the spike closer to Numi and threatened "Scarf or I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Numi backed off, hitting into a wall with her back after just a few steps "W-w-why? J-just buy a-a sca-scarf." she stuttered.

"Look girl, unless you wanna get hurt, give boss the scarf. Simple as that." the first urchin said after helping the third urchin. Numi was starting to panic. She wanted to run, but she couldn't leave Pumi behind, and she wasn't strong enough to carry Pumi. After a few moments of struggling to think of a reply, Numi gave up. She slid down into a sitting position, covered her face and started crying.

Pumi wanted to get back up and beat up the urchins, but she knew that her chances were slim, even with her experience. If it was anything else than urchins she'd have no trouble, but urchins were too unpredictable. Not only that, as a species they were infamous for how little care they had for life of others. She'd take the risk if Numi wasn't there.

A tall inkling came out of nowhere, wearing a mask and wielding a metal pipe. He ran at the nearest urchin and swung the pipe at it, breaking most of the urchin's spikes into tiny shards and knocking him unconscious. The inkling immediately followed up by hitting the other urchin in the face with the pipe, rendering him unconscious. The boss of the trio looked back at the sudden noise and noticing the inkling, turned around to face him. The two didn't move for a minute, staring at each other in anticipation for the next move.

Pumi noticed that the urchin wasn't looking her way. A grin crept onto her face. She quietly got up, and after regaining her balance, ran up to and tackled the urchin to the ground. The inkling took the chance. He ran up to the urchin, took a swing and landed a powerful hit on its head, knocking it out. He turned to Pumi and offered her a hand. Pumi gladly took it and got up with his help. "Thanks!" she said and gave him a smile.

"No need to thank me." the inkling replied and a moment later added "You two should go."

"Figured as much." Pumi replied and hastily walked over to Numi, picking her up and yet again giving her a piggy back ride. "Thanks again!" Pumi said and hurried off with Numi.

The inkling waited until the two disappeared from view and proceeded to take out a small radio. He called for the nearest police patrol to come and pick up the urchins and hid the radio back where it was earlier, then proceeded to take out his phone. He quickly texted "Your sisters got in trouble."

Within moments he got a reply "What did they do?"

"Urchin trio attacked them. They're safe, but you should check on them."

"I will when I'm done with my patrol. It's almost over. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. Love you."

"Love you too." was the last reply. The inkling put his phone away a moment later and went back to hide in the shadows, awaiting the police patrol. He had to make sure the Urchins wouldn't escape.

---

About 45 minutes later the two Parlo sisters have reached their home. After going in and closing the door behind, Pumi took her and Numi's shoes off, ignoring Numi telling her that she can do it herself. She then carried Numi to her room, much to her annoyance. Numi tried protesting, to which Pumi firmly replied "No. You've got a concussion, so you'll stay in bed."

"B-"

"Numi, no. Just no." Pumi declared as she set Numi down on her bed. "You're staying in your bed at least for the rest of the day."

"I don't w-" Numi tried protesting again, sitting up.

Pumi having enough cut in with a raised voice "Numi! Stop already! No means no."  she gently pushed Numi back into a lying position. The sudden outburst has made her go quiet. "Look Numi, today just rest. You've had a bad, if not a horrible day. Just this once listen to me and stay in bed." she continued, now in her normal tone. The two remained quiet for a minute. Pumi took it as a sign that Numi understood, so she stepped away from the bed and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Pumi looked back at Numi, who has sat up again. Her expression gave it away that something was on her head.

"Yeah?"

 After a moment of hesitation, Numi stuttered "D-did I really... k-k-k-ki-kill th-that o-octo-toling?" 

"Shit. I hoped she forgot by now." Pumi thought to herself as she turned back around to face Numi. "No. You just splatted her. She desplatted after we escaped." Pumi lied, putting on the most convincing look her face allowed, speaking with confidence.

"B-but the o-other s-said t-th-that the-there was n-no S.P.A.W.N p-p-pad." Numi replied, trying to fight the urge to cry.

"She was lying."

"H-how do y-y-you know? S-she looked r-re-really u-upset a-and scared."

"I passed the-" Pumi stopped when Numi started sobbing. The sobbing momentarily turned to crying. Pumi rushed over to her younger sisters and hugged her. "Shhh shhh shhh. Don't cry." Numi's response was nothing more than incomprehensible gibberish. "There's no need to cry. You didn't kill anyone." Pumi sat on the bed, rubbing the back of Numi's head. Numi hugged her tightly, burying her face in Pumi's chest as she continued crying. "That octoling was lying. I passed the S.P.A.W.N pad not far away from where you and them were. Definitely in range." Pumi lied with a convincing, yet comforting tone. There really was no S.P.A.W.N pad.

Several minutes passed. Numi was still crying, but not nearly as much as earlier. Pumi was still hugging her, rocking gently with her from side to side. She has said all she could've said to calm Numi down, leaving her with only the option of letting Numi cry. Numi's crying muffled the sound of a door opening and closing downstairs.

Kumi came home early, worried by the information she got. She closed the door and was about to take her shoes off when she heard Numi crying. She rushed upstairs immediately and saw her sisters hugging, which both warmed her hearts and worried her. She quietly approached her sisters, taking her mask off as she did and joined the hug.

"K-Kumi?" Numi looked up with tears.

Kumi gently patted Numi's head, knowing very well that she liked headpats. "Shhh. Just let it all out. Any problem or anything that's on your mind, just tell us."

Numi took a moment before crying "I m-miss mom a-and dad. I f-forgot a p-p-promise... a-a-and, and I-I k-k-ki-killed s-s-so-someone."

Kumi almost let out a gasp upon hearing the last thing. She did not expect such a bomb to be dropped by Numi. Something like this, coming from such a harmless bean of positivity was unthinkable to Kumi.

A moment passed before Kumi said "Tell me about it." whilst doing her best to keep Numi calm. Pumi had a minor panic attack, but remained silent as she put Numi above any secret.

A minute later Numi began telling what happened without sparing on detail, crying and sobbing as she did. She told how she met Cap'n Cuttlefish, how she trained and how her first mission went. When Kumi asked her to explain the agent part, Numi admitted to her lie from a few days ago and explained how she followed Pumi and discovered New Squidbeak Splatoon.

Kumi was bewildered by what she heard about Licy and Cap'n Cuttlefish, but masterfully hid it from her sisters. She looked at Pumi and gave her a judgemental look for keeping such things a secret, making Pumi awkwardly look away. Kumi turned her attention back to Numi. Cheering her up and making her forget was a top priority. But how? "The phone will definitely not be enough." Kumi thought. "On the other hand, talking to mom and dad will be a lot. A trip or an adventure could also work... I'll have to take a few days off." While her mind was planning, Kumi softly asked "Do want something?"

"Hmm?" Numi looked at Kumi with her tearful eyes.

"It's getting late. You should eat something and go to sleep."

"I-I'm n-n-not hu-hungry..."

"Are you sure?" Kumi asked and got a nod in response. "Then let's get you to sleep. I'll stay here all night if you want me to."

"Y-yes p-p-please..."

---

Alpha drone technical status report - 52:

Main systems: heavy damage
Secondary systems: OFFLINE
Stealth systems: OFFLINE
Battery: 33.7%
Primary and secondary weapon systems: catastrophic damage
Manipulator arms: catastrophic damage
Scanners: heavy damage
Emergency teleporter: 0% charge
Current mode: protocol 65-7a
Primary objectives:
    1 - locate safe area for self destruction
    2 - self destruct away from locals
Se#&%ry obj$%&#]es:
    1 - error
    2 - destruction of allied technology to prevent capture
Protocols dictate self-destruction upon sustaining critical damage or capture.

Field report - 12

Enemy forces consisting of 3 Derreno, 12 synthetics and 23 locals have been observed constructing a structure of unknown purpose. - Enemy forces observed for 13 minutes 22 seconds before movement has been detected, 7 meters behind. Proceeding to investigate. - Found 1 Derreno lookout, accompanied by 1 local. - Electromagnetic discharge detected from construction site. Stealth systems OFFLINE. - Lookout established visual contact. Terminating. - Target neutralised, local fled. - Alarm raised. Entering combat mode. - 2 synthetics and 4 locals have been sent to current location. Preparing ambush. - Synthetics neutralised, locals offered a chance to flee. - Locals opened fire. Terminating. - 3 locals terminated, 1 unaccounted for. Minor damage sustained. Entering search and destroy mode. - 1 local terminated. More movements detected. Chance of survival: 74.2748943% - #$% termina%#&, he¤>y d^m*ge - em▪︎|]ency tel=*~rter used - error - #^&$%£ - These reports reports reports reports reports will exp##ience a delay of 999999999 standard {time unit} to reach the {location}.

Scouter #¥&ne Alpha, end of #^€▪︎.

---

Kumi spent the night by Numi. She made sure that her sister slept well, or at least tried her best, using several tricks and methods their mother and grandmother taught her. They were immensely useful, for Numi definitely had more than a few nightmares that night. She even tried sleepwalking, something that Kumi thought she grew out of.

Late morning rolled around. Kumi came back to Numi's room after making breakfast and waking Pumi up. Numi was just starting to wake up. After a few long moments she lazily sat up and rubbed her eyes, before looking around. The day outside the window looked promising: there were only a few fluffy white clouds that dotted the sky occasionally; the leaves on trees and bushes could be seen gently swaying in the breeze; and birds could be heard giving their concerts to the world.

"Good morning." Kumi's gentle words grabbed Numi's attention, who turned her head away from the window and towards Kumi. Kumi didn't seem tired at all, despite having no sleep that night.

"Good morning!" Numi happily beamed in her usual cheerful tone.

"Breakfast is waiting downstairs - it's your favourites." Kumi said softly. Numi's ears perked up when she heard that. "We're also going to get you a phone today, and perhaps we could also go on a small trip?"

Numi jumped up and stood on her bed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Yay!" she beamed and jumped off the bed. Or she would, if her foot didn't get tangled in her quilt. Kumi quickly prevented the usual faceplant, catching her sister almost immediately. "Oops." Numi giggled.

Kumi set Numi down, patted her head and left the room. "Oh, one more thing." Kumi stopped and turned around. "Today's going to be rather warm today, so you might want to leave your jacket." she said and left.

After doing the morning necessities, Numi quickly got changed from her pyjamas into a plaid skirt, a pink short-sleeved shirt and her long maroon scarf. She ran out of her room, downstairs and into the kitchen. She saw Pumi sleeping with her face in a bowl of cereals, Kumi standing by the table with a crabapple  and a plate on the table with: a juicy slice of pink inkmelon; some squid leg grapes, which were comparable to gummies; a few blueberries; a squid fin lemon, which supposedly brought good luck; waffles with strawberry jam; two muffins; a cup of inkmelon juice and a candy bar, of a kind that wouldn't cause a sugar rush. The fruits and the candy bar made this kind of breakfast Numi's favourite.

Numi immediately took a seat and began eating, starting with squid fin lemon. Turned out that this one was particularly sour and while it meant more luck, it also was very eye watering.

"Do you want to go on a trip anywhere after we get you a phone?" Kumi asked and took a bite of her crabapple.

Numi finished eating her squid fin lemon and beamed an energetic "Yes!" in reply. "I wanna go to a forest and to Shellendorf and to Wahoo World!"

Kumi thought for a moment. Shellendorf was the closest of the three places and would take the least time, while Wahoo World was sandwiched in between. The nearest forest would require a car to get there as it was rather far away and walking that much could end up being too tiring for Numi. "We can go to Shellendorf and Wahoo World today, but the forest will have to wait."

"Why?" Numi asked and bit into her waffles.

"It's a long way away." Kumi started, "You know that I can't drive. No bus goes to the forest either and walking there would tire you out before we even got there."

"Aw..." Numi's ears drooped slightly, then perked up a moment later as she gasped. "We could ask Arlie and her mom and dad if they want to go to the forest too!" she beamed enthusiastically.

Kumi thought for a moment, after which she said "Well, we can try." and pulled out her phone out. Arlie and her family were among the few that knew that Kumi wasn't dead.

Numi continued eating her breakfast, greatly enjoying every single bite she took. She didn't pay much attention to Kumi talking on her phone. She finished her breakfast a few minutes later. She took her plate to the sink, turned around and saw that Kumi has just ended the call. "What did they say?

"They agreed. They'll pick us up between 15:00 and 16:00, and we'll be back around 20:00 and 21:00." Kumi replied as she put her phone away and then slowly explained "It'll take one and a half hour to drive to the forest, so three hours in car, and they said we'd stay there for two hours. That's why it'll be around five hours." she looked at the clock on the microwave. "Right now it's 11:33, so we still have about three hours and twenty-seven minutes."

Numi took a moment to process all the numbers. Working out time, and maths in general, was one of her worst sides - she could hardly grasp even the very basics. "Do we have enough time to do everything else?"

Kumi took a moment to think. "We won't be able to go to Wahoo World, BUT we'll go there tomorrow. Maybe there'll be more things to do then?"

"Ooh! Okie! I'll wait then!" Numi declared cheerfully.

Just then Pumi woke up, raising her head from the seemingly empty bowl. "Wuh?" was all she said.

"You're a sleepyhead!" Numi beamed.

"I hope that you're rested enough to not fall asleep for the next three hours. I'll explain on the way." Kumi said, walking over to the kitchen door. "Let's go." Hearing this Numi bolted to the main door, while Pumi dragged herself along like a zombie. Kumi followed behind. She and Pumi were already ready to go and Numi took only a moment to put her shoes on. They went out just a minute later and headed for a bus stop.

"Do you think they have pink phones?" Numi asked curiously as she skipped happily a little ahead of her sisters.

"Of course! Why wouldn't they?" Kumi replied, mimicking Numi's bubbly voice.

Numi turned around, walking backwards. "Why do you never teach me that trick?" she asked, puffing her cheeks a little.

Kumi laughed a bit. "I dunno, I'm too lazy." she teased, mimicking Pumi's voice now.

"Kumi! Please teach me!"

"How can I be sure you won't use it for mischief?" Kumi asked in her normal voice.

"That's mean! I don't want to be mean!"

"I know," Kumi said with a sight, "I can't teach it to you because I don't know how to. Even if I knew how, I'm not sure if you'd even be able to learn it. It's a very hard thing that takes years to master."

"Aw..." Numi turned back around and continued to skip.

"I could teach you some acrobatics though, or how to sneak better."

"Ooh! Yes please!"

"We can start tomorrow after we come back from Wahoo World."

"Okie!"

They reached the bus stop a few minutes later, but had to wait another ten for a bus. Pumi was struggling to keep awake, Numi was so energetic that she could give the Great Zapfish a run for its money and Kumi waited calmly. "So far Numi seems to be alright... it shouldn't be too hard to make her forget. I hope," Kumi thought to herself, "Wish I could read her mind. She could be hiding how she really feels." When the bus arrived and they got on they payed, headed to the back and sat down. Numi rested her head against the window and looked outside. She found the vibrations to be kind of funny in a way. The bus soon closed the door and headed for the next stop, after which it would head to Arowana mall - where Numi would get her phone.