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Chapter 4 Do you care?

All art belongs to @b-r-i-n-g-x do not repost! Fic prompt from @itsajanea Tags: Angst, Romance, Action Adventure, jealously, love confessions, SMG4 discovers he is bi, fluff, abuse, PTSD Last Chapter Next Chapter

Three lies in his bed frowning, his mind was driving him insane, it’s been several weeks already with Aster.Surely the magic of a new relationship has vanished, due to these thoughts Three found himself getting nervous when he saw his partner. Over time Three has been letting down his walls showing his softer side, while Aster seemed to be unchanged. It was driving him insane, some moments he wondered if that's just how they are. Then a memory comes to him from a few days back, the soft blush they had during their breakfast together was something that Three never stopped thinking about. Not to mention Aster said they had work to do, only to end up dressing up like a maid to help his cafe. Aster never brought up that they did this also, he wondered if they knew pictures of them in a maid outfit were taken.

He sighs annoyed by the mixed feelings until Eggdog jumps on the bed, he turns and smiles softly as the pup cuddles up to him “I know…i should trust them but something tells me there is more to them, I can't put my finger on it.” a ding is heard from his phone, holding Eggdog close he reaches for the phone seeing the name duck girl on the screen. Curious, he unlocks his phone to see what Tari wanted from him. He smiles seeing how the crew wanted to invite him and Aster to a gaming competition at the castle, he goes to his contacts and finds Aster’s name. He pauses looking at the number feeling nervous, shaking off his nerves he presses the number and calls Aster. After a few rings he hears the line pick up “Hello Darling, didn't expect a late night call. Did you miss me that badly?” SMG3 couldn't stop himself from letting out a bright smile, just hearing their voice was enough to put Three in a good mood. Then his mood dropped when he started to think about their relationship, how often did Aster even call him by his name. He was always darling which wasn't something Three minded, yet the thought of hearing Aster call him by his name made his heart race. He smacks himself, annoyed by the school girl's thoughts “Yeah my bad i wasn't paying attention to the time, i just called cause Tari invited us to the castle to hang out. Wanted to know if you're up for hanging with those losers?” Aster lets out a chuckle “Sure,you know I don't mind hanging out with the crew. Though I do find it interesting how you always tell me they're not your friends, yet we just made plans to hang out with them in the morning.”

SMG3 blushes at the comment as he glares at the phone “OI! I don't care about them, I only hang around them because it's better than having those guys be annoying near my cafe!” Aster lets out a hum hearing their boyfriend complain, the line goes silent for a moment. Three frowns unsure what to say, Aster sighs before speaking up hoping to end the silence “I will be there at noon, I should let you go, it's late and now we have plans.” SMG3 frowns at Aster’s words while on the other line Aster stares at their phone conflicted, they look around making sure Ztar wasn't around before speaking “Sweet dreams, cant wait to see you tomorrow.” Three smiles as they hung up, staring at his phone he decided that he was overthinking, he texted Tari and tossed his phone to get ready for bed.

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Aster stares at their phone for a moment before looking around the house, seeing Ztar isn't around they out a loud groan “UGH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?” Their heart was racing over what they told Three, the emotion was so sudden it startled them. They sit on their bed and stare at the photo the pair took together, they blush thinking about the phone call “He…is the villain we must kill, Ztar is already annoyed it's taken this long to get rid of him. I need to act faster and ignore whatever is happening, more than likely heartburn from that toad.” This hang out could be the perfect time to score the words needed to start the trap, the more they thought about it the more certain they became about the next plan. Aster glares at the photo before moving the photo out of sight, they make a note to attempt a love confession this month. They couldn't keep playing the slow game, something needs to happen to change their relationship. They lay down thinking over what they could do before sleep takes over, Ztar arrives home hearing snores. He floats over to see Aster sleeping. “You're getting soft, I'm going to have to remind you what happens when you get soft.” Suddenly an electrical energy zaps Aster causing them to jump up awake screaming in pain, Ztar stares as he zaps Aster again “Child, while I’m annoyed by not having our target in our hands. I’m more annoyed by what you have shown me about yourself!”

Aster hugs themself as their body felt as if it was on fire from the shock, they breath heavily as Ztar gets close and gives them a magical pat on their head. The dark star let out a sigh “You know how much it hurts me to do this to you, you're my best creation and seeing you screaming in pain hurts me more than you think.” Aster nods as the pain subsides, they get up showing Ztar a serious expression “Don't worry, I'm not being soft with the crew I know they can't be trusted. I will make my big move there and play my role.” They open a drawer and show a piece of paper with different confessions on it, Ztar looks at it and chuckles “You're going to tell him you love him to inspire his own confession, perhaps I had nothing to worry about.”

Ztar uses his power to give Aster a gentle back pat, Aster smiles at the affection their father was showing them “Child i know i can be rough on you, but remember the pain i give you is nothing to what will happen if i lost you. You're too important to lose.” Aster nods shoving their past thoughts aside, they can't let weird emotions get to them after all parents know what's best. They knew about what SMG3 did and they shouldnt let themself forget it, Ztar looks over them. Aster gives a stern nod before Ztar floats to the door “Aster, those people don't care about you so it's best you watch out for their lies. Plus those people will never accept you for what you are, a shooting star like you can't be trusted in their eyes.” Aster frowns from their fathers words looking down for a moment. “I understand, I promise father I don't care about those people.”

Ztar opens the door then floats out leaving Aster alone thinking over his words, they throw themself on the bed as they get lost in their thoughts. -------------------------

Four tosses and turns in his bed, since learning about his crush on Three things felt like a nightmare. How his stomach twists whenever he sees Three and Aster together, how the pair didn't care who was looking as they kissed. Not wanting to get angry from the memory he takes out his phone and goes to youtube, there he looks up his favorite girlfriend asmr video. Hitting play, he lays his phone on his bedside table as he closes his eyes. “Had a rough day baby? Come over and we can cuddle your stress away~” the woman's voice was clam filled with affection. Yet it wasn't helping him, annoyed he grabs the phone and looks over the list of girlfriend asmr videos. Each one that he played made him more annoyed, as he scrolls looking for the perfect one he pauses seeing the title on one of the videos. He taps on the video ‘Tsundere Girlfriend wants cuddles asmr’ he then gets comfy in bed listening to the video, “I just…I want cuddles there happy baka!” as the video goes on the attitude brought comfort yet wasn't enough for him. His eyes go wide seeing his recommended videos, there in the list was SMG3 youtube channel.

He taps the account name and sees all the twitch stream highlights, he smiles softly seeing the man smirking in the thumbnails. He hits the playlist tab and sees a playlist of SMG3 asmr, he blushes staring at the playlist. He wasn't that down bad for the man that he would listen to the playlist, he chuckles thinking the idea was ridiculous as he taps on the playlist without thinking. Realizing what he has done he panics and attempts to exit out only to hit play on the video “Hello chat, this is SMG3 I will be doing a little asmr tonight to help you all go to sleep.” Four’s face goes red from the whisper, he never noticed just how deep and soothing Three’s voice was. He stares at his phone as if he was in a trance, he had spent so many years with this how could he have been so blind. Feeling sleepy, he hugs his phone with a soft smile listening to Three’s voice, as he dreams of finally being able to date SMG3 a loud scream jolts him awake. He sits up in a panic, he looks to his phone for the time only to see it died. Slowly he gets up from his bed and leaves his room, that's when he notices the game room doors being open. His eyes go wide seeing the one behind the screaming “OH FUCK OFF I SO WON THAT! Three shouted as he glared at a smug Tari. Four panics as he runs to the bathroom and fixes himself, once he looks presentable he steps out of the bathroom and peeks in the room. He smiles brightly “Hey everyone! Didn't know we were having a gaming day.” He watches as Three hands over the controller to Luigi, his grumpy expression making Four giggles and smile at him “Sore loser much?” Three rolls his eyes “Shut it scrub!”

His good mood then sours when Aster walks in the room with a bag of snacks “Listen just because I'm soft for my boyfriend doesn't mean you can keep sending me out to get snacks.” Aster smiles brightly making Three blush, any trace of the man being upset over losing is now gone as he walks over to his partner. Three grabs the bag digging around for his treat, Aster’s eyes then lock on to Four “Ah sleeping beauty has awakened i see.” Four felt his jealousy wanting to come out, swallowing the emotion down he gave Aster an eye roll “Yeah well Three is a pretty good alarm clock.” Three finally gets his treat and tosses the bag to the crew, hearing Four’s comment Aster turns to Three “Lost the battle Darling?” Three scoffs looking away from everyone “That's only because she cheated!” Aster gently grabs Three turning him to face them, Three stares wide eyed at Aster as they lean down to kiss him. Three closes his eyes ready to kiss his partner, the sight was making Four feel sick. Not wanting to see the pair kiss, Four pulls the gaming controller out of Tari’s hand. He charges up to the couple, the distance causing the cord of the controller to unplug from the console as Four points at Aster “ASTER I CHALLENGE YOU TO A MATCH!” The couple turn, staring at Four, Aster smirks seeing the anger in Four’s eyes “Oh? Now why would I do that hm?” Three steps back staring at Aster confused seeing the mischievous expression they had, Four chuckles as he fixes his hat “We can make things interesting, If I win you stop all that gross pda you do with Three. Not all of us want to see you making out!” Aster crosses their arms amused “Alright, then if i win you have to do one thing i ask of you. No matter what, we got a deal cupcake?”

Three frowns as he watches the two shake hands sealing the deal, Aster gives Three a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down on the couch. Four plugs in his controller before pushing Luigi aside to sit next to Aster, they exchange a look before going to the character select screen. Aster picks their character and lays back on the couch “Ready?” SMG4 takes a deep breath as he selects his character “I hope you're ready to lose pretty boy!” Aster chuckles as they lean forward, Four focuses in as he attempts to counter Aster’s moves. Tari gasps, jumping up from the intense match “I never seen someone able to pull off that combo!” Aster smirks hearing her comment about their play style as Four starts to sweat seeing his health dropping low. “Looks like round one will be mine~” they smirk as they land the final hit. Three bites his lip seeing the bright colored victory icon on the screen, as the second round starts he couldn't help himself as he whispers “Please lose Aster…please.”

Aster chuckles seeing SMG4 struggle with avoiding their attacks, Aster smirks seeing his health bar drop low “Hope you're not a sore loser cupcake, cause I’m about to win this bet.” Four rolls his eyes at the comment as he manages to block Aster’s attack “Not giving up to some pretty boy that wears so much eye shadow he looks like a raccoon!” Tari giggles at the comment as he pictures a racoon version of Aster “Aw I think Aster would be a cute racoon.” Annoyed by the comment they glare at Four, Luigi smiles along with Tari on the idea of Aster being a racoon. Aster grip on their control tightens “Would you guys kindly not make comments about my taste while im playing?” Tari and Luigi apologize as the pair keep playing, Four’s health has dropped to a low percent causing both Four and Three to panic. In one quick move Aster does the final blow, they drop the controller smirking at Four “I win, be ready to do your end of the deal.” Four frowns as he stares at the winner screen, he didn't think they would be so good at fighting games. It was almost as if Three’s partner was perfect at everything, while Four was pouty over the loss Three clenched his fist he felt sick at the fact Aster won. “I can't believe you Aster…” hearing their name they turn confused at Three. Even the others in the room were surprised by the hostile tone in Three’s voice “You told me you wanted me, yet you make this sick bet with Four. Well go on do your stupid request, i know what you want to ask him.” Aster looks at Four then at Three, they weren't prepared for a situation like this as they think over what to say. “Darling, I have no idea where you're going with this.”

SMG3 lets out a sarcastic laugh causing Aster to walk up to him “You're being strange, are you okay?” as Aster reaches out only to have their hand slapped away. Aster looks at Three surprised, the shorter man glares at them “I know you made that stupid bet to get a date with SMG4.” Now it was Four’s turn to get up from the couch and stare at Three in shock, there was no way Three honestly thought Aster had feelings for him. Aster shakes their head “Darling what would give you that idea? We were just having friendly competition, isn't that why you invited me to join everyone so we could have fun?” They were starting to feel strange, they didn't understand why their chest was feeling tight. The thought that Three would think they were interested in someone else was ridiculous, they needed to show the only one they wanted was him.

Four gets up in a panic “Whoa no! SMG3 why on earth would I want your partner?!” Four couldn't let this misunderstanding happen, sure he is all kinds of jealous over what Aster and him have. But to get in the middle of that without a good reason was cruel, he hated to see Three hurt after everything they have been through. He cared too much about his ex rival, Three glares at Four “You have taken plenty, every relationship I have had you manage to get in the middle.” Four’s eyes go wide at the comment before Aster reaches out one more time to Three, seeing Aster reach out the man swats their hand again walking out of the room “GO ON ASTER MAKE THAT REQUEST! WHO DOESN'T WANT THE FANCY YOUTUBER OVER SOME CAFE LOSER!” Four takes a step back feeling his heart break hearing the man's words, Aster follows after Three “Darling I don't want Four, where is this coming from it was just a silly bet nothing serious.” Three growls as he turns around “IT'S OVER ASTER!” They pause as Three’s words echoed in their head, their legs suddenly felt heavy. He snaps his fingers opening a portal next thing the crew knew Three was gone. Aster stood still in shock, their mission is at risk if SMG3 doesn't want to date them. They had to chase after Three, except they couldn't make any attempt to move,they just stood there frozen. Mario pats Four’s back before whispering with a smirk “Hey good-a job now you can get your gay lover.” Four frowns hearing Mario’s words, this was not how he wanted things to go. It didn't feel right to go after Three with the thought of making a move when his crush must be in pain, he sighs throwing himself on the couch making Mario worry.

Tari runs up to Aster “Are you okay?” taking a deep breath they force their heavy body to move giving Tari a small smile “I will be fine blue jay, I just…need to think on things.” They walk out of the castle with Tari slowly following them. “Three has a rough past…please don't hold it against him.” Aster nods as they leave the castle, they walk down the forest path lost in thought. Tari watches in concern before returning to the gaming room “Guys what are we going to do? We have to help our friends!” Four bites his lips, his feelings were mixed on the whole situation. Getting up he turns to his friends “We need some kind of event, something that can bring those two to have some kind of talk.” The group goes silent thinking on what to do, then a loud slam of the front door catches their attention. They go to the main lobby to see an excited Meggy “GUYS! Guess who is going to be the host for the new and improved splatfest!” her smile drops seeing Four and Tari frowning. “Hey everything okay?” she hugs Tari then Four as she waits for them to explain everything, Four gives her a small smile “Three and Aster got into their first fight, Three told Aster it's over but…knowing Three if it was really over Aster wouldn't have walked out of here in one piece.” Meggy nods then hands a ticket to splatfest “Then how about we get these two talking,” Four takes the ticket remembering all their bonding during the first runs of splatfest. How professor E gadd helped make a gadget for everyone to now be able to join the event, thanks to Meggy being turned into a human. He takes the ticket and nods “I will go to Three and try to talk to him, you guys find Aster.” As Four was about to leave Mario grabs him “Are you sure? If we fix this fight…you-a lose your chance.”

SMG4 looks behind Mario making sure the others can't hear “I know…but I love SMG3 too much to see him suffer, I can't do that to him again.” Four leaves the castle and snaps his fingers, nervously he tosses a rock making sure the portal is stable. Seeing that the portal wasn't going to blow up, he runs in hoping to all the memes he wont end up blowing up or ending up in the wrong place. Four looks around the woods hearing the clicking of the local memes was enough to confirm he made it, walking he looks around in surprise from all the new buildings. “Wow..Three really is an amazing ruler,” he stops walking when his eyes meet with the iconic starbucks building. He walks in and smiles softly, it's been so long since he last saw this place. He frowns as he hears crying, Four gently knocks on the door “GO AWAY I'M ON A BREAK!” Three shouted attempting to sound angry. Four pushes the door open only to get a pillow to the face “AH! Dude it's me Four!”

Three blinks as he wipes his tears “Four? The hell are you doing here, didn't you do enough back at the castle?” Four sits on the bed ignoring the glare the other man is giving him. “Offering a bet with Aster was dumb of me, I guess I hated…” Four closes his eyes thinking on what to say, the last thing he wanted was to let his feelings for the man be known. He turns to Three “I’m sorry, I was upset that you got to find someone that understood you. While me…I try so hard to get a relationship but heh no one gets my passion for memes. Maybe it's the curse of being a guardian.” Three stares at Four silently, he hugs his pillow shaking his head. Four watches as Three's eyes move from him to the floor. “This is my fault.” feeling his eyes water, he looks away. “Aster acted so perfect, or maybe it was all in my head. Every relationship has been a pain in the ass yet here comes some random guy from the dark web, they just changed a lot of things for me.” Three throws himself on the bed getting Four to stand up to give him space “I fucked things up cause i couldnt trust them, Aster side of the bet just screamed i was an idiot for trusting them.” Four nods as he listens to the man, he peeks out the door asking a few Eggdogs to grab coffee. After a few moments the coffee arrived, he thanked them with a quick pat before offering the cup to Three. Three sits up taking the cup and sipping as Four begins to speak “I don't know Aster as much as you all do, but I do see how they look at you these days. I’m pretty sure the rizzler has charmed this dark web guy pretty bad, no way could Aster look at anyone else.” He hated having this talk with Three, just thinking of the soft looks Aster gives Three when they think no one is looking always made him feel sick. Four stares at his coffee thinking back on that look, he wondered if that's how he also looks at Three.

Four looks at Three seeing how the man was avoiding eye contact, how he stares at the floor hoping it will give him the answer he needed. Four was about to reach out to the man before Three let out a shaky breath, his voice cracking “Aster will never forgive me,” clearing his throat SMG3 finishes his coffee “Even if you're right about them…I told them it's over.” Four gets up putting his coffee on a nearby table, he then digs into his hat pulling out a ticket “We both screwed up, so how about we fix it?” Three stares at the ticket confused, Four rolls his eyes and takes Three’s hand placing the ticket on it. Three places his coffee down as he begins to read it “splatfest hosted by Meggy?! The squid is bringing that back, wait how the hell is this going to fix anything?” Four smirks at Three giving him a wink “We are going to get you and Aster a moment alone, we fight all the time and make up after talking. I’m sure Aster will hear you out, just be honest with them.” Three lets out a soft chuckle getting up “I doubt this will work, but I don't have anything going on that day,” Four nods as he walks to the door “This lets hope the others found Aster.”

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Tari looks around frowning “How will we find Aster? We don't even know where they hang out, oh why did none of us ask for their number.” Mario smirks as he walks in front of Tari “Aster has the looks of a god, to find someone like that you must find the simps!” He takes out binoculars looking through the crowd, that's when he notices a small group of people giggling. He sprints to the group of people leaving Tari to run after him “Mario wait!” Mario slides up to the group getting strange looks, he takes out a photo. The group looks at it before one of the women takes it with a huge smile “omigosh! That's the hot guy we saw at the cafe, you know he is out of this world hot when he makes your boyfriend question himself!” The girl giggles along with the others over the photo, Mario takes out a spray bottle and starts spraying the group of girls. Tari catches up and watches the whole thing in shock, she grabs his hand stopping him “Uh sorry about that guys thank you for the help!” Tari pulls Mario away “We can't spray people, how are we going to find Aster that way?” she frowns as Mario rolls his eyes “Fine fine!” He walks up to the girls again, seeing him the girls huddle together glaring at him. Mario lifts up his hands, he turns to see Tari giving him a thumbs up. He smiles at her before turning to the group of girls “Listen here, if you don't want to get the spray again you will tell me where that person is.” Mario points to the bottle making one of the girls hiss at him “We found him at cafe meow.” Mario takes the photo back as he walks over to Tari giving her a thumbs up, she cheers as she follows after him.

Aster sighs as they lay on the floor, a small black cat walks up to them slowly staring at them.Aster smiles as they reach out to the cat “Hey little buddy, want to join me in thinking how to fix my fathers plan?” They couldn't wrap around how they manage to screw up the mission so bad, they thought they were being the perfect partner. The cat meows as it cuddles up to them making Aster melt and smile, only for the moment to be ruined when Mario kicks the door open “ASTER COME GET YOUR MAN!” They sit up as the cat runs away in fear, Tari lets out an awkward giggle “Hey Aster..we were looking for you for Meggy.” They look at the pair suspiciously, they stand up focusing on their heart. There they heard Mario’s wish for pasta making Aster shake their head, then they turn to Tari. Their expression softens when they hear Tari’s wish for her friends to make up, relaxing more knowing there was no danger they smile at the pair “Meggy? Did something happen?” Tari smiles, handing them a ticket “She is hosting the new splatfest, it's an inkling event, it's a lot of fun. Oh but it can also be really scary…I used to be in a team with her back in the day.” Aster takes the ticket and stares at it curiously, they hum trying to picture Tari firing ink at anyone making them giggle “How did you guys even manage that? Don't inklings swim in ink?” Tari smiles while taking out her cell phone showing them pictures of her time in the competition, Tari starts telling them about their adventure with Axol and how they saved anime. As she tells them the story Aster’s eyes sparkle as they smile brightly, Tari frowns as she fondly looks at the group picture they took together “We lost a lot of people…Axol and Desti aren't with us anymore. But they won't ever be forgotten.” Aster frowns as they look at the photo then at the ticket, the crew have gone through so much together. It was different from what their father told them, they think over the story before looking at Tari and Mario seeing them frowning. Aster then smiles wrapping their arms around them both “Hey, I can't really relate to what it's like to lose someone but im sure they both are happy you carry on their memory!” Tari looks at Aster and smiles “Yeah!” Mario steps away from Aster feeling awkward being too close to them “Mario takes it you will join us?” Aster nods “Sure, maybe at the same time I can figure out what to do with Three..” Tari and Mario exchange a surprise look before Mario smirks at Aster, Tari gently pats their back “Don't worry together i'm sure we can figure things out!”

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The next day the crew met up in the inkopolis plaza, Aster looks around in amazement while Meggy giggles at them “It's funny seeing the calm and collected Aster looking like a child in an amusement park.”’ Aster blushes then pouts trying to regain their mask “Ahem, I was just surprised by all the colors.” What was wrong with them, they needed to stay focused on the task. They only showed up because they had to fix things with Three, not to be on some field trip. Aster shutters at the thought of what their father would do if he learned that they weren't with SMG3, they needed to get this mission done and get payback. As more of the crew showed up Aster was beginning to get nervous, the meme guardians weren't around. They bite their lip wondering why they were showing up late, then a thought came to their mind. The pair had a history together, could they have gotten together after their fight with Three? Aster places their hand on their chest feeling it get tight at the thought, it was strange for them. Why would something like that bother them, they think it over and sigh coming to the conclusion they were nervous about disappointing their father. That's when in the corner of their eye they notice the pair showing up together, something in them snapping at the sight.

As the pair arrived Three felt himself getting nervous, Four smacked Three’s back earning him a glare “Don't be nervous I'm sure Aster will be all for hearing you out!” With a nod the pair join the group, Meggy claps excitedly and starts to lead the group to her new office. As the group walk Three awkwardly moves himself next to Aster “uh hey..” Three looks up hoping that Aster would talk to him, Aster looks down at Three. This was their chance to make things up and fix everything, they had to keep the plan moving forward. Aster opened their mouth to talk only to shut it, they mentally scolded themself for struggling to talk. They needed to fix things for the plan they just had to say what they needed to “ Brave of you to say hey to me after showing up with him, after the things you told me.” Aster wanted to scream at how aggressive they sounded. Before Aster could take back their words, Three scoffs at them “Unlike you I'm friends with the scrub and i didnt make any stupid fucking bet with him.” Aster wanted to slam their head against the nearest wall, why did they say that now all chances to fix things are ruined. Three walks ahead with Four following after “Dude what happened?” Three facepalms as he walks not wanting to talk.

Aster stops walking letting out a sigh, Meggy turns, catching what happened “Hey guys uh there is an arcade over there, how about we play some games and we can meet up at the office later?” A few members of the crew cheered running to the arcade while Tari, Four and Mario stayed outside with Three. Meggy then walks up to Aster “Hey Aster join me? I'll be pretty lonely seeing my office alone, plus I need to see who I will be up against in the future!” Aster nods following Meggy as they attempt to figure out what's going on with them, it was a simple greeting yet they couldn't return it. All that came out of them was annoyance, why did it annoy them to see Four so close with Three? Once they were away from the group Meggy turns and tosses a splat gun “THINK FAST!” Aster panics as they catch the gun, they look at the gun in their hand confused “Uh why are we throwing weapons?” She smiles as she points to an arena “When i need to think or get over negative emotions i go target practice!” Aster looks at the arena then the splat gun, with a shrug they go with Meggy. She does a quick explanation on how the gun works then points at the target “Okay focus on the target, think on something you would love to hit. That's what I do and it helped with my aiming when I first started, you got this Aster!” She cheers as Aster stares at the target, their mind starts to picture Four making them growl as they aim and fire hitting the target. They gasp, surprised they really hit it while Meggy gives them a thumbs up “Heh thanks coach, did help a little though i rather not spend too much time firing at a target. I doubt it will give me any answers,” Meggy deflates as she watches Aster frown walking away, she quickly walks after them to point them the right way.

“Well then what's the problem?” Meggy wasn't one for romantic advice given her failed past with it, even so it wouldn't stop her from trying her best to help her friends. Aster shakes their head “It’s fine, we are here to celebrate you being the new host for splatfest.” They smile at her as they arrive at her office, Meggy opens the door excited to see the office “Just remember you're not alone Aster, if you don't want to talk about it that's okay. Now let's see this ro-” Meggy freezes seeing the office, Aster looks around unimpressed “Pretty dusty, this inkling must have been gone for a long time. Hm one shot wren?” Meggys breathing quickens hearing the name as she reaches for her hat, flashes of her meeting with wren. ‘DRAW’ Meggy screams making Aster turn quickly, she shakes her head crying holding on to her beanie as if her life depended on it.

Aster stares at her, focusing hard seeing the negative energy “Shit..even if i attempted anything there i would be worse off.” They slowly approach her, unsure what to do. As they look around the room they notice multiple wren photos giving them an idea, their purple eyes glow as they erase anything with Wren on it “Uh Meggy I got rid Wren, are you okay?!” She hugs herself breathing heavily, Aster curses to themself, they sit near Meggy thinking on how to help. “You know it's pretty fun seeing your home, hitting something with ink was really fun!” They begin to talk hoping that their rambles could help the women next to them. As they keep talking, Meggy slowly relaxes as she stops hugging herself, she watches Aster as they ramble about their thoughts on her home. Seeing her feel better they get up and get her fresh water “Need some air?” she drinks the water before slowly getting up “That…sounds good.” The pair walk outside the building, they stand there in silence before Meggy speaks up “Sorry about that, I’m normally able to handle things better than that..” She lets out a shaky breath as she removes her beanie, Aster stares at the road watching inklings walking around “It’s fine, sorry i wasn't the best company to have for this.” Meggy smiles softly “It was nice not to be alone for once, this feeling reminds me of when I first became human…” Aster turns towards Meggy “Ah yeah Tari told me, you guys had a whole anime arc.” She nods as she puts her beanie back on “I lost someone close to me, a rival, an old crush. When the others told me about you and Three, well all i could have thought of was how i never got a chance to get closer to Desti. I didn't want you two to fight and leave each other's life without seeing how deeply you care about each other.” Aster blushes at Meggy’s words, how could she think that they care deeply about SMG3.

They must be that good of an actor to make the crew think they care about what happens with the man. Aster could laugh at how hilarious the idea is, yet their chest was feeling strange again thinking over her words. Before the two of them could chat more they notice a group of inklings running, Meggy runs up grabbing one of them “What's going on?” the pink inkling pointed towards the arcade “Killer Ink is having a battle with a bunch of humans over at the arcade!” Aster and Meggy nod at each other as they run towards the arcade. A loud explosion of ink could be seen as they approach, Meggy starts to speed up sliding in seeing the crew hiding behind a pile of crates. There she sees Killer Ink laughing as they keep shooting “That all you guys got? This is why humans should stay away from splatfest!” Meggy growls taking out her splat gun “HEY! Leave my friends alone!” Aster arrives looking around, seeing the buildings covered in ink, then their eyes land on Three. They both blush looking away from each other, the leader of killer ink rolls her eyes “Oh look who it is again, just cause you got lucky and won splatfest years ago doesn't mean you can take this one from us.”

Three swears under his breath “Ugh these fuck heads ruining our planning!” Four yelps as he hides behind the crate dodging the shot. Wearing white overalls at this time is a choice Four is hating at the moment “How did they even know we were here, god these guys sucked so much when we first met them!” Three peaks and gasps seeing a shot almost hit Aster, he hits the floor as he thinks about what to do. Four felt a chill making him turn to Three “Three…what are you planning?” Seeing Three get up taking a bomb out of his hat makes Four eyes go wide, he grabs Three “No! My meme sense is saying this is a bad idea, Three if you go out there with a live bomb you could hurt Meggy and Aster!” Three looks over at Aster and Meggy who are now hiding by the arcade, he then turns looking at the inklings chuckling. He growls pulling his arm away from Four “I will be fine, after all i felt the same with you and look your still standing! I’m just going to put them in their place, I'm not some wuss that hides!” Three goes over the crates and tosses one of his bombs, one of the inklings scream running as it explodes. SMG3 lets out an evil laugh making Aster smile, Meggy steps out and aims, hitting a few of the other team members. The team looks to their leader in a panic, she growls frustrated at the situation “I won't let humans scare us off!” She fires her gun, the ink hitting Three’s bomb, Four gasps as the ink makes the lit bomb fall next to Three. Aster eyes go wide seeing the bomb get hit, their eyes glow the moment the explosion goes off.

“YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!” Aster yells as they hold Three close to them. Slowly Three pulls away staring at Aster in awe, Aster places their hand on his face checking on him “YOU COULD HAVE DIED THREE WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?” Three grabs on to their arm “I..wanted to teach them a lesson,” he mumbled at them. Aster’s eyes water shaking their head “That was worth risking your life? What if you died? What if…” They let go of Three slowly touching their face, their voice crack “What if…I never got to see you again?”

The leader glares at the pair and readies her gun only to hear footsteps behind her, she turns to see Meggy smirking at her “Game over, thanks to your stunt as host of this year's splatfest you're banned.” She swears as she gets up walking away “You won't get away with this!” Meggy smirks, putting her splatgun away and joining the crew. Seeing their concerned faces she turns to see what they were staring at. Aster starts to wipe their tears confused as Three gently caresses Aster’s face “I…I’m sorry, for everything…What I did was stupid but not as stupid as what started most of this mess. I got scared that you were using me, I let it get the best of me and I snapped at you when I should have trusted you. Do you forgive me?” Aster slowly pulls away from Three, their heart racing seeing the soft look the man was giving them. Aster then runs away, Three watches them run off as he clench his fist “FUCK!” Four slowly walks up to Three and gently rubs his back. Aster falls to their knees after running for a long while, it felt like hours having Three’s face haunt them as they ran. They could have ended their mission there, that bomb would have killed Three yet they stopped it “Whats…wrong with me, why cant i stop crying?” Aster looks around to see they ended up at a beach, they get up and walk toward the sea staring at the sunset. They stare at the sea thinking over everything that has happened the past days, was their father right?

The more they thought about the crew the more things felt confusing, their father told them all these stories about the crew. Yet none of it was adding up, they shouldn't question their father. They frown feeling panic grow “Was he right? Am I getting soft with the crew…with him?” The very thought of seeing Three hurt made them feel sick, it never did before which frustrated them more. They sigh, drawing in the sand thinking everything over, their phone starts to ring. Taking out their cell phone they see Three’s name, they feel their heart skip a beat as they silence their phone. Perhaps they needed to accept what was happening, the very thought put fear in them. They stop drawing and stare at their phone “Have I…already failed my mission? Am I falling for you?” Once the words escaped their mouth they felt a strange pull, their head hurting. They close their eyes, suddenly an old man's voice is heard “Oh man you really know how to keep an old star waiting~” Aster’s eyes shoot open as they look around “who..who said that?

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